While examination of conscience is a practice we ought to undertake regularly throughout the year, as a penitential season, Lent is a fitting time to do so with even greater intentionality. In particular, Holy Week is a good time to consider those faults and sins we might tend to overlook or underestimate.
One subtype of sins that can often be downplayed, despite their ubiquity, are sins of speech. Yet, the Letter of James takes the use of our faculty of language very seriously: “Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. . . . So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:2–3, 5–6).
I think most of us are aware of how nasty exchanges of words can get, especially online. Accordingly, becoming more aware of the different kinds of sins of speech can help us be more mindful of how we use our capacity for language.
Because they are explicitly mentioned in the Ten Commandments, the two most obvious sins of speech are taking the Lord’s name in vain and bearing false witness. Our Western culture has become more and more comfortable with the misuse of the Lord’s name. One of the most successful podcasters in the world, who does not consider himself Christian at all, frequently uses the name of Jesus as an expletive. It is very common in television shows and movies. It can also be commonplace in certain work environments. This is very troubling indeed, for, objectively speaking, using the Lord’s name in vain is much worse than using even the most censored of four-letter words.
One particular form of taking the Lord’s name in vain is blasphemy. As the Catechism states, “Blasphemy is directly opposed to the second commandment. It consists in uttering against God—inwardly or outwardly—words of hatred, reproach, or defiance; in speaking ill of God; in failing in respect toward him in one’s speech; in misusing God’s name. . . . The prohibition of blasphemy extends to language against Christ’s Church, the saints, and sacred things. . . . Blasphemy is contrary to the respect due God and his holy name. It is in itself a grave sin” (CCC 2148).
When we think about it, misuse of language is much more severe than we might like to think.
There are three types of sins associated with taking oaths. One is the taking of a false oath. “Taking an oath or swearing is to take God as witness to what one affirms. It is to invoke the divine truthfulness as a pledge of one’s own truthfulness” (CCC 2150). Thus, a “false oath calls on God to be witness to a lie” (CCC 2151). Relatedly, perjury is when one “makes a promise under oath with no intention of keeping it, or when after promising on oath [one] does not keep it” (CCC 2152). On the other extreme, “pledging oneself by oath to commit an evil deed is contrary to the holiness of the divine name” (CCC 2152).
Bearing false witness is usually recognized as wrong. It is often called calumny, which is when one, “by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them” (CCC 2477). Slander is the spoken form of calumny. Pope Francis, in Amoris Laetitia 112, warns us that “slander can be quite sinful; it is a grave offense against God when it seriously harms another person’s good name and causes damage that is hard to repair.”
Relatedly, lying is at least widely recognized as a category of sin, even if it is often not taken as seriously as it should be. To lie is to speak falsely with the intention to deceive (see CCC 2482). “Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error. By injuring man’s relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord” (CCC 2483).
Aquinas speaks of two modes of lying that we might not often think about: boasting and irony (see ST 2-2.112 and 113). He uses these terms in a technical sense. Boasting makes more of oneself than is actually the case and is, therefore, false by way of excess. Irony, in Aquinas’ usage, refers to undue belittling of oneself and is, therefore, false by way of privation. It can be understood as false humility.
The Catechism teaches against irony but in a different sense of the word. It speaks of irony as “aimed at disparaging someone by maliciously caricaturing some aspect of his behavior” (CCC 2481). Though this description is short, I think it is something most of us can readily admit we see—or even engage in—relatively frequently. This tactic may involve portraying the behavior of opponents in an exaggerated way to make them seem to be ridiculous, when a fair description of their actions would make them seem much more reasonable. Especially when there is a disagreement about something, there is a vicious tendency to try to make the opposing party seem more foolish than it really is. In argumentation, the straw man fallacy is a prime example.
In addition to lying, there are other sins of speech likewise considered offenses against truth, even when the words themselves are true. The sin of detraction is a prime example. Detraction is when one, “without objectively valid reason, discloses another’s faults and failings to persons who did not know them” (CCC 2477). In other words, just because what is said happens to be true does not make it morally licit to say. “Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one’s neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity” (CCC 2479).
If detraction is an unjust revealing of the faults of another, on the other extreme is support given to others’ sins. “Every word or attitude is forbidden which by flattery, adulation, or complaisance encourages and confirms another in malicious acts and perverse conduct. Adulation is a grave fault if it makes one an accomplice in another’s vices or grave sins” (CCC 2480).
While this article does not present a comprehensive list of sins of speech, I think it nevertheless points out that there are many ways we can misuse our gift of language. Controlling what they say is something many people struggle with on a daily basis. Again, the Letter of James confirms this fact when it—perhaps with only slight hyperbole—states, “For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:7–8).
When we think about it, misuse of language is much more severe than we might like to think. The second person of the Most Holy Trinity is the eternal Word. Our words, then, are called to reflect the goodness and holiness of God the Son himself. Language is meant to communicate, which is linguistically tied to the idea of fostering communion. But so often speech is used in a manner that is unnecessarily divisive. This Holy Week, it is a good idea to reevaluate the ways in which we use our words. Do they really reflect the holiness of the Logos? Or do they often cause unnecessary harm and division? Insofar as the latter is true, let us repent and work toward conducting our speech in ways that glorify God and encourage others to holiness.